Traditional lead generation may not be dead, but, in a low-trust and short-attention span world, it has morphed. Dramatically.

The Shift in Lead Generation

It used to be that small business owners and organizations could go into the marketplace and hunt down new leads and customers with a targeted approach. The rule-of-thumb was to find a message that worked, and distribute that message through a medium that reached the right people.

With the advancement of technology and the internet a posture shift in lead generation happened. This same-old approach was no longer effective.

Today our prospects are armed with ad-blocking tools and technology that allows them to tune out any message that doesn’t interest them. Not to mention social media created two-way communication between brands and customers.

The New Lead Generation

Growing a business today takes getting people talking. This is how referrals happen, PR happens, SEO happens and links happen.

A recent survey on what motivates customers to make recommendations – essentially get them talking – stated, a whopping 93% of respondents cite “a positive experience with the brand.”

A positive customer experience is the new lead generation.

The end result of a positive experience is a happy customer and happy customers are the most potent marketing asset any organization can leverage. It’s the most powerful lead generation channel.

Perhaps more importantly, a positive customer experience + a happy customer is the greatest lead generation tool available.

If being found offline and online by prospects is the new form of lead awareness, then trust is the new form of lead conversion. Trust happens rapidly when people choose to talk about you.

Positive experiences are worth talking about and thus is the new lead generation.

So how does a company go about creating the most positive customer experience possible?